The ACT Labor Party Conference has passed a motion of support for Marriage Equality with the support of an estimated 90% of delegates. The Motion was supported by both the Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher, Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr, as well as Federal ACT Senator Kate Lundy.

The Motion comes as Andrew Barr, has declared that Civil Unions are not a viable alternative “Civil Unions... are not a viable alternative to full marriage equality. Wherever civil unions have been established around the globe, governments now face ongoing and accelerating campaigns for marriage equality. Frankly, civil unions here in Australia would simply see the call for marriage equality intensify,” Mr Barr said.

Australian Marriage Equality National Convener, Alex Greenwich, has welcomed both announcements "Not only has the ACT Labor Party convincingly declared support for full equality, but Mr Barr has also ruled out civil unions which would threaten to entrench discrimination against gay and lesbian couples by creating a 2nd class scheme".

The ACT Labor now re-joins Queensland, Western Australia, South Australian, Tasmania, Northern Territory, and Victor in passing motions of support for full marriage equality. The NSW Conference deferred the issue to the ALP National Conference, but senior ALP figures including Anthony Albanese and Paul Howes used that conference to declare their support and pro-equality voting intention.

Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, has used his newsletter to announce the results of a youth survey in his electorate that show 78% of young people in his electorate support marriage equality (detailshere). This result is in-line with a recent galaxy poll that showed 80% of young voters Australia wide also support reform (detailshere). AME National Convener, Alex Greenwich, "We congratulate Mr. Hockey for voicing the youth's strong support for marriage equality, and we call on him to include this in his parliamentary report back on marriage equality on August 24th".